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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.